Technical Info

Our antenna is a circularly polarized 2-bay pair of Nicom BKG77, located on the rooftop of the Dean building at Florida & Cloud, for a total height of 175 feet. Our transmitter is a BW TX150, operating at 44W. The bays of the antenna have a 0.5 wavelength separation for a power gain of 0.6. The feed line is 65 feet of Andrew Heliax 7/8″ with an efficiency of 94%. The overall transmitter-feed-antenna system has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 25W horizontal and 25W vertical. The audio is streamed from our studio to the Dean rooftop using a pair of Barix Exstreamer 500 talking to each other over a point-to-point Ubiquiti NB-5G25 link.

As indicated by the “LP” in WHYR-LP, this is a “low power” station, which typically means “100 watts at 100 feet”, and should send a clear signal at least 3.5 miles in every direction. When the antenna is located higher than 100 feet, as ours is, the wattage must be reduced to stay within FCC low power guidelines, yet the signal should reach at least as far, if not further, and be clearer, due to fewer obstructions. Given the central location of the antenna, our signal should reach at least 199,000 people. For details, please see our coverage map.

This is a listener-supported station run by unpaid volunteers. To stay on the air, each year we need to raise $30,000 to cover the unavoidable operations expenses (rent, utilities, insurance, licensing, hosting). Your donations are tax deductible. (WHYR is a project of BRPN, a 501(c)(3) non-profit.) Thanks for your support!